TWOGOODEARS - トゥーグッドイアーズ

R.I.A.A. equalization curve - friend or foe?

2012-01-27T19:03:00.006+01:00

Read carefully those Wikifacts, folks... cannot stop thinking while reading above RIAA's genesis - more politics than music-related - that yesterday evening I listened to a couple of open-reel tapes at 15 i.p.s. on my de Paravicini's Revox G36 tape recorder... a Giacinto Scelsi's organ recording I did years ago, using Neumann USM-69 in Blumlein with Nagra IV-S... the sound was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo liquid, natural and smooooooooooooooooooooooooooooth, dynamic, effortless and beautiful... I was ready to sell... BETTER: give away ALL my vinyls... few notes and ALL is incredibly clear: first generation open reel Basf tape IS music.

RIAA... NAB, CCIR... equalization standards are words, acronyms... conventions... music is as simple as breathing air... as open-reel and first generation master tapes.

The best, VERY best vinyl playback?

A good second... at best.

Michel Petrucciani at Pere Lachaise

2012-01-27T09:43:00.002+01:00

... in loving memory of Michel...

... again about silence - John Cage's point of view

2012-01-25T22:45:00.003+01:00

... shhhhhhhh... a 4'33" moment worth a whole life.

The Ten Most Incomprehensible Bob Dylan Interviews of All Time

2012-01-25T15:40:00.003+01:00

Incredibly amusing and entertaining...

His Bobness' interviews, at his best... thanking the Vulture.

Ivan's Choice - Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters, Underrated Silence

2012-01-23T19:00:00.004+01:00

Ulrich Schnauss, master of shoegazer indietronica, and Mark Peters, bass player, guitarist and songwriter in the british band engineers, present their first collaboration: they have crafted music which is enchanting in the truest sense of the word, shimmering sounds, floating echoes, rhythmically reverberant chords which wrap themselves around the listener, lifting him into a state of suspension and carrying him gently away. on bureau b records.

I'll try it...

BTW: it's also available in vinyl format;-)

Ears and hearing - In praise of silence

2012-01-23T15:42:00.015+01:00

Yesterday I spent some hours in the mountains, at 1000 meters above sea level, spruces, bright sky, snow, sun, chilly air and... silence.

Nor my wife neither our beloved pup presence was able to bruise the amazing beauty of silence.

A fat, almost painful, yet heavenly silence... THE most perfect of silences... no in Ksar Ghilane, Tunisia or in Guatemala's Peten I had same deep sensation... the wind or the insects or the birds were someway - yet beautiful - disturbing.

Being in the mountains in winter in a sunny bright day... that's the trick... no cars, airplanes, bikes, burglars, crowd, only the forest, snowy smooth, the naked trees (oaks) and spruces... still, magnificient; pure colours, pure silence... purest of... what?!?!?

What's silence?

Is it death hinting?

Is it a pause of life?

Is it emptiness?

Is it something to search and to look for or to step away?

... as an improvising musician, silence is a canvas and my best friend... notes, sounds coming from an instrument or a voice cannot exist without silence...

Music without silence is... well, noise.

... back to yesterday... the silence was surprising, as it sort-of captured me with its quality...

Was it deep, shiny?

Was it excessive?

Can beauty be "excessive"?

Who am I to describe or understand silence?

Is it somehow "useful" or cool or important to talk about silence?

In my opinion, definitely "YES!"

Silence is fullness of life... the supreme emptiness to be filled by nature and whole creation sounds...

I loved it as silence speaks when words cannot.

I love it!

Was Keynes wrong?

2012-01-22T09:08:00.010+01:00

... audio-sake, maybe:-)

Supply and demand?

Market laws seems to do not properly apply to audio... many audio gears, amps, turntables, cartridges and speakers cost more than solid gold... is it workmanship the ONE and ONLY added value explaining such an apparently inflated price-tags, sometimes reaching real estate price tags?

Is it mass production vs. handmade? Maybe... BUT building quality isn't - per se - only coming from this or that... so that's not self-explaining nothing.

I remember years ago, I don't know if referring to S. Schmidlin's Audio Consulting or Imai-san's Audio Tekne or to both:-)... i.e. when you buy "xxxxx" from us you buy our vision and dream...

The above should/would justify the AWFULLY high, almost alien price-tags of some gears, who knows... I visited Imai-san's 1 & 1/2 square meters, tiny sized "workshop"... father and son seated at a bench, hand soldering for hours and hours on every top of the line amps or preamps they put on the market worldwide...

Is this one-to-one, maker-to-customer approach, alone, worth tycoon-only final prices?

How's worth Man's time, one hour of unconditionally given, full of attention and dedication, depending on his/her skill and/or profession?

A doctor while surgering would be worth millions, as human life is so precious... BUT also an audio engineer and builder, giving shivers and food to our soul, giving life to a black plastic slab with grooves and giving us - i.e. Bach or S.L. Weiss... isn't this worth "some" money... BIG money, I mean?

... and why people I know and/or I'm aware of, after spending BIG bucks on this or that piece of gears, when it comes the time to go multiamping, so needing a... crossover:-))) - yes, it's recent stuff, folks... - they suddently get into a sad penny-pinchers mood and go for a crappy built, sounding and conceived IC-based crossover, completely fucking ALL the system sound and nuances?

Money rules, would say Keynes, BUT in audio and music, yes, also fine instruments are elusive matter and some of the a.m. anti-Keynes' laws apply, as well...

It's time and its value, skills and knowledge value, it's idea, details, materials, of course... but the mix of the above mentioned give best audio stuffs, NOT only resistors and caps and transformers in a box, BUT something which gives Music... and Music is above ANY value and as much money unrelated as it can be, so priceless.

AT ANY PRICE, music and everything gives it to us, is as precious as life.

Priceless.

Unique.

R.I.P. Dept. - Gustav Leonhardt passed away on January 16th...

2012-01-18T19:08:00.010+01:00

The great harpsichordist, organist and conductor, the man of great taste who, with Frans Bruggens, Wieland and Sigiswald Kujiken, Kees Otten, Anner Bylsma and a bunch of (quiet) daredevils forged the European ancient music, its praxis and authors as we know and appreciate today... played on original instruments, with minimalist recordings on Telefunken "Royal Sound" AW series vs. the overproduced/multimiked Deutsche Gramophone's, before Arkiv label...

Think about some recordings on DG by Richter and his - at the time - recently made harpsichord... Bach's masterpieces were sometimes sounding like played on a Petrof:-))) grand-piano!

After Gustav Leonhardt, Bach and several other composers from XVI, XVII and XVIII Century, someway clicked as pretty "right" to our younger ears... I attended to his concerts every time I had the opportunity... dozens of times, actually, as I loved his music and playing and cherished to these present days ALL his records on Telefunken's from early '60s onward.

His calm, forceful, tasty musical approach was simply unique: measured, classy with a never tiring and tired attitude, always unveiling hidden masterpieces at every concert and recording.

I'll miss him a lot, his elegant, calm walking in and out of the stage... I (humbly) learned a lot from him... first of all to love harpsichord and its extremely broad palette after you digest his apparently boring dinosaur-like character.

After and thanking him came Blandine Verlet, Ton Koopman, Scott Ross, Davitt Moroney and a few more... but as the first love is never forgotten and always missed, Maestro Leonhard remained among the most beloved of yours truly.

R.I.P. for him and condolences to his family, friends and fellow musicians who appreciated his elegance for decades...

Ears and hearing - Ayman Abaza and Arun Ross' ears (a)symmetry

2012-01-16T18:42:00.004+01:00

Thanking my friend Massimo and his truffles nose...

A truly great essay...

A new "pusher" in town: Boris' Beczar Rare Recordings and Music Society

2012-01-15T11:59:00.005+01:00

From the ashes of the mythical "Crash Records", the second hand and rare vinyls (and disks) shop in medieval down town Padua (Italy), which closed after 25 years only few months ago... Beczar is THE place in town where to find sought after and obscure pressings both vinyl and digital, where to chat about music, photography, art...

I wish the best luck to Boris.

... more Tango... MCT-999 revamped!

2012-01-15T11:32:00.012+01:00

Years ago I had a Tango MCT-999 moving coil transformers/step-up and... well, NOW I understand I didn't listen to it, actually.

I listened to - say - a 60 percent of its merits, it was pleasant BUT not the ultimate in resolution and transparency... maybe guilty was the awful Japanese building, looooong crappy cables inside and that 0,0005 cents 4 steps selector.

Water passed under the bridges and I re-tried with a new pair I found in Japan some months ago, BUT this time I followed Daniele Ansaloni's great tips and suggestions on building and cables quality and layout.

Also Marco Benedetti, who owns both Peerless 4685 and Tango MCT-999, preferred Tango's and he also applied Daniele's hints...

... oh, oh?!?!

Am I deaf?

Why, WHY I always preferred WE 618B and Peerless 4685 over MC-999... now, nor Marco neither Daniele owns and use a Lumiere DST, with its 2 ohm and 0,3 mV needs, but nonetheless I took my time to re-try Tango...

What can I say? I was wrong, period!

Honestly I didn't fully understood the great musicality and the incredible resolution the MCT-999 is able to give to the discerning listener.

Yesterday evening I had first listenings with Tango's in the analog chain and I almost fell from my lounge chair:-)

The character was... hell, IS:-) in the VERY same vein of my cherished Western Electric 618B: no exagerated rendering, no hyper-detailing, BUT only the truest soul of the music... resolution is very, very high, BUT in a different way than my also beloved Peerless 4685 or 4611... the detailing is relaxed, ambient noises are not sort-of "added" to music and musicians playing... everything is embedded and nicely organized into the music and part of it, including recording venue and musicians lively presence...

Must say I had to repeat the listening swapping two times from Tango to 618B to 4685 to Tango, again... sure the HUGE improvement I had after inserting the Mayer's LCR/passive crossover, with its incredible seldom heard silence-among-the-notes... well, this helped in better understanding what was going on.

Many thanks from my heart to Daniele for his always well informed opinions and to Marco Benedetti for someway "pushing" me again toward MCT-999... and to my friend Franz (from Italy, not Austria:-)) for great building and care on this apparently easy and humble project...

As you see from the (ugly) pixes, I choose a dadaist green colour - also nicely matching with my XLO Phono Reference cable:-) - for the Hammond's alu box and, as usually, Cardas Rhodium RCAs.

The King is naked, folks and, humbly said, I was wrong... let's shout "Hoooray!" for the Tango MCT 999.

Garrard 301... more tips on taming chassis vibes

2012-01-14T13:21:00.004+01:00

From David, an Australian friend... a great, GREAT job of cleverly deadening job underside a 301's chassis.

... when one pix tells more than one hundred words...

Bravo, David... and thanks for sharing!

Thomas Mayer's (new) crossover: first listenings

2012-01-14T09:39:00.005+01:00

... so, after one week since Thomas delivered his crossover, I had only the possibility to set up without the TacT's RCS XP 2.2, as the MOST important step is unfortunately missing and uneasy - i.e. the physical presence of my friend Franz Hinterlehner and his skill and deep knowledge of acoustics, room measurements and TacT programming.

The above will be fulfilled at Franz's convenience, later in the next weeks...

In the meantime, I implemented the Mayer's crossover in my Gotorama, connecting ALL my Hiraga's Class A amps and... horror and blame to me:-))), tuning by ear with some Ivie IE-30 and IE-20, respectively RTA and pink noise generator, support.

Strange enough, that's what happened... as you probably know, my Goto's drivers are aligned on vertical plane, BUT not time-aligned, at least without TacT's...

Without any active, semi-conductors based x-o, like the Goto CF-1 and the A&E EC-5 I used in the last months... the sound clicked soooo beautifully and easily... natural, smooth and with a killer detailing and soundstaging... magically (or not by chance, considering Dave Slagles'superb coils and TVCs and Thomas' workmanship and designing skill), the Gotorama's was superbly singing, effortless and untiring like when using TacT's and electronic crossover(s)... only better... I mean MUCH better, folks!

Maybe the light, even - almost non-existing - electronic glare and sonic footprint of Mayer's crossover highly "polished" music and gave a shiny, holy:-) character to the overall sound...

Thinking about being someway fooled by enthusiasm and possible (temporary) sonic "blindness" due to the novelty, I shared some listenings with a couple of (goodears) close friends... they also confirmed my feeling and thoughs, in awe and jaw-dropping mode like yours truly: also on well known discs and disks, an incredibly high quantity of new, previously hidden and veiled details appeared and every single note was like jumping out from athick, lively black fluid "canvas"... a never ending sense of surprise and smoothness.

... sure some boominess and slightly veiled shadow on lower frequencies are present... BUT, nonetheless, the zestness and beauty are SOOOO much more than the flaws...

My preview is that Mayer's crossover with its super transparency will further improve the sonics and musical enjoyment when my TacT's will be finally and properly programmed by herr Hinterlehner... as the bespoke frequencies and slopes already are so VASTLY above the previous - sans-TacT - overall sound in my studio.

Feel soooo excited and happy and satisfied...

The MIGHTY Grundig RT-50 tuner

2012-01-12T20:01:00.007+01:00

A good second place, sonically and considering building quality, after Marantz 10B... also using tubes, it's a true beauty, old timey and space-age - i.e. Buck Rogers' b/w strips - at same time.

A superb site, unfortunately in italian, only, by a skilled aficionado from Venice, Italy, full of links and tips and hints about this well kept secret among TOP quality tuners.

Well done, Giovanni and... cool!

Music and its tools - making of a confortable thumb-pick

2012-01-08T11:44:00.002+01:00

Zen and elegant short instruction video from UK...

Beaconos - a cool horns (and conventional) speakers manufacturer

2012-01-08T11:16:00.003+01:00

A new manufacturer...

Cool bass enclosure... maybe using a tad too much MDF:-), but kosher!

Simon Reynolds' "Retromania"

2012-01-08T09:00:00.006+01:00

Is pop and rock, as among the purer of pure art form of freedom and expression, dead?

Is rock living on its own ashes and self-destructing it, consuming itself at every new Rolling Stones, etc. etc. "new" gig?!?!

Like truest soccer is seen when you find a match in a soccer field in the countryside, with teams of fourteen/fifteen years old players, the most sincere rock is in the new voices and groups, maybe still rehearsing in a garage?

Not easy reply...

Have a browse to Simon Reynolds' "Retromania" blog and/or read his book, on Simon & Shuster's.

Wall-E

2012-01-05T21:00:00.002+01:00

I simply loved it...

Thomas Mayer's Triptycon

2012-01-04T21:07:00.010+01:00

Thomas recently posted in his Blog an article about the making of my new crossover, another step toward that M-U-S-I-C ideal, a goal of a life, as anyone has his obsessions, and... well, my own is my VERY own:-)

A very personal "menage" between music and myself.

I will meet Thomas, soon... in the meantime, as he says, my "shrine" is in a sort-of epiphany - by chance some hours to come:-) - a great time of waiting, hope and elucubrations, and, like during childhood, the Christmas' Eve was better than the Christmas day... meaning that in the waiting for something new there is a sort of "beauty", a languor akin enamourement, a feeling I love as much as life, itself.

... and no silly, uninspired forumer and/or rewiever will convince me I'm wrong or far too romantic: in virtually any DIY and bespoke stuffs there is the soul lacking in mass produced stuffs... my ears says it.

This German-born Meccano lover;-), addict and enthusiast named Thomas Mayer, who getting older mixed his electronic skills to his boyhood passion - Meccano, of course:-) - is a sort of Dream Catcher for (now) more and more music and audio lovers around... his gears are lively capturing music essence, period.

I already knew using since October 2009 his four-chassis preamplifier... sure his new piece of gears will further improve what's already (quite) seldom heard:-)

Thanks, Thomas... I'm pretty sure the usual exposing your gears to Bodensee fresh air and beauty will do the miracle... i.e. bringing life and trueness to reproduced music at home.

Easy?!?!

Ah!

Happy New Ear

2011-12-31T18:01:00.002+01:00

... ooops... a missing "Y":-)...

Sincerely, an healthy, wealthy, recession and war free, gorgeous 2012 to everyone, everywhere... so I hope.

Amarcord Dept. - Gusztav (Pannonia Studios - Budapest - Hungary)

2011-12-30T12:29:00.007+01:00

Beloved, dear Gustavus... I loved it!!!

Pure genius...

Music and food... food and music...

2011-12-28T14:44:00.005+01:00

... an indissoluble pair as both are made for pleasure, at their very best, BUT can also be poisonous and a nightmare, at their lowest;-)

Try this... a musical Arcimboldo!

Lenco/Goldring 88

2011-12-28T09:49:00.002+01:00

... I would have never bought it if not being an avid "Lenco Lovers" forum reader... will get it soon and will try its merits in slate plinth with a Schick arm... WOW!

Never ending story;-)

People

2011-12-27T18:15:00.008+01:00

My beloved wife returned from a trip to Northern India and Nepal with a load of nice photographs... my pleasure to share with you some which I liked.

The common topic is... people, of course:-)))

A disc for Christmas... Bjork's "Biophilia"

2011-12-27T10:12:00.007+01:00

... which means a gift for the platter, cartridge and... ears and soul, of course;-)

Last Bjork's effort - "Biophilia" - which I bought at Ivan's as a gorgeous double vinyl with credit-card shaped, cool complimentary download feature, is a seldom heard beauty of icy atmospheres, harp-generated sounds, whispering voices and pure electro-acoustic soundscapes.

I read on Mojo, some weeks ago, about Bjork's search behind this very disc, the readings which inspired her to compose and play such a wonderful music... also if "Biophilia" was intended as the first interactive disk, ever, where through iPad or other selected computer apps the listener would be allowed to play with mixes and many others visual interactive effects... well, I must say I remained completely indifferent to those hi-tech pluses... BUT the music, THE MUSIC... it's Bjork at her VERY best, up to "Vespertine" high-lights, better than "Medulla" and, most of all, much better than "Volta".

I listened to the four sides in awe, always curious about the next piece, more and more... and will listen to it again, I'm pretty sure.

I strongly suggest you give a listen to "Biophilia", folks... you'll be captured and brought to a better world.

Music and its places - Lake Dal in Srinagar, India

2011-12-23T21:54:00.003+01:00

Kashmir's Lake Dal gently weeps

SRINAGAR - For more than a century, stunning Dal Lake has been the resplendent jewel of Kashmir's tourism trade. Enshrined beneath glacially serrated Himalayan peaks and encircled by blossoming orchards and tulip gardens, its idyllic beauty is legendary.

The late George Harrison, guitarist for the Beatles, and Bengali sitar maestro Ravi Shankar once strummed their strings on its shores. British comedian Michael Palin, of Monty Python fame, Academy Award winning actress Joan Fontaine and former United States vice president Nelson A. Rockefeller all vacationed by the peaceful waters.

Dal Lake, located in Srinagar, the summer capital of the northernmost India-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, has also been a favorite of India's own rich and famous, including musician Zubin Mehta and three generations of India's powerful Gandhi family, to name just a few. (Last year, Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi presided over the harvest of Dal Lake's tulip plantation - the largest of its kind in Asia.)

My wife was there, only few weeks ago... I saw this marvellous place through her eyes...

Weirdo Dept. - pre-war (high) fidelity

2011-12-23T12:17:00.001+01:00

... ho, hooo, hoooooo...

2011-12-23T09:31:00.005+01:00

The coolest of musical Christmas' gifts from a more innocent era for the (still) innocent music-lover and root/popular music scholar.

A must!

Alternatives to (Coke-style) Christmas... some suggestions...

2011-12-22T12:13:00.007+01:00

Really found annoying the attack on the shore by Santas troops currently on TVs worldwide... more reminding me to WW2 than to Christmas' time... and we all know how much we need peace.

Much more prefere these:

Tim Burton, Charles Dickens, Matt Groening and Charles Schultz own that 'Xmas "magic" lacking in the above mentioned multi-billion advertising campaign.

Fovea Hex - the "Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent" EP trilogy

2011-12-20T10:31:00.008+01:00

A seldom heard - fractal like the disks covers - music and a seldom quoted group of artists, under this brand-name... Fovea Hex: imagine Brian Eno, Steven Wilson, Robert Fripp and Donal Lunny with haunting voice by Clodagh Simonds... re-creating folk, in psych/avantgarde sauce...

Amazing music, indeed, in these 3 x EP/single-(boxed) disks... thanking my friend Franz;-) - the italian one.

BTW and FYI... "The Fovea is a tiny indentation in the retina where the sharpest vision is. Hex can mean various things — amongst other meanings, a jinx or a curse. In a way, to me, Fovea Hex means something like "through a glass darkly".

Nice Blog

2011-12-19T15:18:00.002+01:00

Have a browse...

STC/Coles 4038A Ribbon microphone on BBC papers

2011-12-19T13:27:00.007+01:00

A rare, seldom read BBC's paper about Ribbon mikes and related.

STC/Coles 4038A remains THE well kept secret among studio microphones!

My acoustic guitars never sounded so lively and transparent, through 4038's.

Roland Topor's wisdom

2011-12-19T10:27:00.009+01:00

"100 good reasons to kill myself right now"... from Roland Topor's iconoclastic wisdom.

Dedicated to the late, braveheart (italian film director) Mario Monicelli [see 8)].

Japan and tsunami: to do not...

2011-12-19T09:33:00.003+01:00

...forget...

Cool rock & pop & jazz & folk & blues comics

2011-12-19T08:53:00.004+01:00

Well informed and quoting among the best musicians ever...

Bad as Me - Tom Waits' last disc...

2011-12-18T13:50:00.013+01:00

... cool title, "Bad as Me"... Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, the couple guilty of among the best discs of the last two decades are always joining and joined by the ol' bunch of trusty friends... Marc Ribot, Larry Taylor, Augie Meyers, Charlie Musselwhite, David Hidalgo, Flea, Casey Waits (Tom's son), plus Keef Richards' cameos on vocals on one track and his raw 5 strings Telecaster almost everywhere... the best songs - like "Face to the Highway" - from the gorgeous 180 grams vinyl including a superb booklet of Tom's pixes and the complimentary full disk are, strangely, reminding to me the best forty years old songs - i.e. from Blue Valentine and Small Changes and all first Asylum album, where say, Ray Crawford, Shelly Manne, Chuck Domanico and other L.A.'s scene top session-men were greatly supporting Tom's sandpaper younger voice... recording, in best tracks, are as lo-fi as some Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards' cuts, including el cheapos tubey sounding, hissing and buzzing guitar amps and greasy voice and all.

A nice disc, supported by a nice recording, as well... as a blue label says on cover "The first disc in seven years"... but sooo far from being a tired proof, as it is still fresh as, say, much beloved Swordfishtrombones or Mule Variations...

Subsonic vinyl-discs cleaning - a DIY option?

2011-12-15T13:20:00.007+01:00

The difference? Apparently not so huge and MUCH worth some investigation and DIYing re. brush and the like... maybe a mix between a (manual) Knosti and the subsonic feature of the dental-use cleaner could successfully work together... why not?!?;-)

From USD 219 of a.m. (white/blue) machine to (about) USD 3500 for the audiophile-grade, German-made, ready to go sub/ultrasonic cleaner...

... mmmhhhh...

(My very own) Gentle Giant's Three Friends

2011-12-14T09:21:00.014+01:00

The weirdest disc I EVER purchased in decades of vinyl fairs, shops and WEB browsing?

Years ago I found a minty first pressing on sought-after UK Vertigo "Swirl" label of seminal Gentle Giant's psych masterpiece, "Three Friends".

I had it from early '70s, but it was a worn out italian pressing on shitty, noisy heavy vinyl... I kept to these days only for romantic reasons;-) as this disc gave to me musical fuel of best quality and opened new worlds of musical bliss.

... the a.m. first pressing REALLY was a shiny, top conditions early pressing and I'm still enjoying it a lot.

I still remember the surprise when I opened the pizza-box from UK, inspected and carefully handled and smelled (... yeeessss, defintely so...) it... and...

... oh, oooh...

What I found inside the sleeve... "this" still amuses and intrigues me...

... a Rizla "Orange" cigarettes papers "long" blister was innocently blinking to me... inside, a carefully hand-made, better, hand-rolled;-)))... joint, still so lively smelling of good quality grass... pot, Mary Jane, greeny and cool smelling cannabis sativa.

WOW... psych-mavens at Vertigo put an "attachment" to one of their most beloved discs, ever?!?!

... don't know... I didn't dare asking or bothering the UK seller on the matter... and, no;-)... are you wondering if... no, I didn't smoke it...

Fool I am...

More likely the previous owner stored like in a safe his dopey manufact for the "right" evening...

... and I respected his will... like a glass-bottle with some rolled paper inside, as found on a beach... it's mysterious stuff, folks.

The orange Rizla's with its Nick Drake-hinting "Five Leaves Left" advice is still in my "Three Friends" on Vertigo "Swirl" label disc.

A time-caspule from a better, easier world?

I loved this;-)

Happy Blue Year - THE blues calendar...

2011-12-14T09:03:00.011+01:00

Some people like cats, football, nudes, cars, flowers or novelty calendars to keep them smiling all year round.

But only the Blues Artwork Calendar - out yearly since 2004 - lets your eyeball rare ads for blues, race 78s from the 1920s (see September Evil Woman Spell...) while checking off important blues deaths, births and whatnot.

You get also a free disk of rare songs... could you ask for more?!?! As a plus, the topic - i.e. - feeling bluesy - is also soooo tailored and proper to present times...

Have a look here for info and orders.

The endless orgasm...

2011-12-08T16:12:00.008+01:00

... it happened this morning, when I finally returned, full-time - after about two months with the EMT 930st - to the Mighty Magnifier, H.M. the Garrard(zilla) 301!

I had my 301 half dismantled as I was trying both the new spindle and the new 12 kilos platter, listening of course, but more as a work-in-progress experimental listening than a relaxed musical enjoyment.

Swapping tables, arms and cartridges dramatically made me aware of the EMT's shortcomings... pleasant, smooth and "radiophonic", in the sense it always reminds me when - I learned it after years - the 930st was "the" radio workhorse... its sound was... is no spikes, no dips, let's say average sounding... a concept I already expressed several times:-)

The Garrardzilla (see a previous post) is something hard to be believed... sincerely, when I say "Garrardzilla" I mean the almost completed - I'm still waiting for the very last puzzle-part, the Ray Clark's solid chassis which sure as hell will further improve things - and will soon reach 301's Olympus, a statement.

I apologize for repeating myself, the combo is 301, fully hauled and lubricated (new stainless steel springs, refurbished motor, etc. etc.) my own spindle and platter, stainless-steel idler wheel, slate plinth and Schick "Haiku" 12 inches silver arm with Lumiere DST cartridge... it's such a one-of-a-kind piece of gear, an empathic combo, so full of after-market, bespoke parts and attention to details that all the energy and attention returns to the listener at every listening, blossoming and amazing:-)

The overall sound is so... soooo sweet and detailed and full of air and various and life-like, every note has its personality, weight, character, decay and weight in the musical palette... it's always been like this, also in the past... BUT now, folks... it's pure magic, period.

930st vs. 301 seems such a nice match... but unfortunately (not for yours truly...) it's a true lesson for myself my friends and everyone doesn't believe that a table (and arm and cartridge) owns a soul: the music flows freely and effortless, light to the ears... never tiring... with Garrardzilla you risk to listen to 4-5 records in a row, without any sense of time passing or being tired.

A disc - a Telefunken's Ludwig Streicher double bass with piano - I listened only yesterday evening on 930st (with RMA 229 and TSD 15 spherical) sounded brand new, so fresh and full of new nuances with 301... the bow strokes, rosin and fingers of Maestro Streicher are like it's in front of me... breating and masterfully playing... that's it!

I truly cannot stand in my shoes waiting for the next listening at my studio... seeking again & again, endlessly for "that" orgasm-like feeling... later I'll enjoy music with my pal Franz Hinterlehner, visiting me, my town and Gotorama, of course, for a couple of days.

That's audio, that's its truest meaning... enjoying, moving, giving emotions and shivers... and it's always a joy sharing the above with friends.

... aaahhhhhhhhh...

... some readings about music, looping and composing/improvising...

2011-12-04T18:58:00.005+01:00

... as found at Looper's Delight.

BTW, worth repeating: LD is a great site, and a true goldmine at several levels...

Garrard history... a saga

2011-12-04T13:45:00.004+01:00

The History:
1721 Garrard and Company appointed Crown Jewellers of London. One of their duties being the care and maintenance of the British Crown Jewels and the Royal Crown. They had an international reputation for craftsmanship in the design and manufacture of jewellery, gold and silverware. In 1952 they amalgamated with the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company of Regent Street, London.
1914 Garrard and Company were asked to manufacture precision range finders for the British Artillery because they had both the craftsmen and special machinery needed.
1915 They formed "The Garrard Engineering and Manufacturing Company Ltd" with Major S.H.Garrard as Chairman, and Mr C.E.Newbegin as Managing Director, to run a factory set up in the premises the White Heather Laundry in Willesden, London.
1918 At the end of the war, the workers returned to their previous jobs, and Garrard decided to continue to operate the company and they looked for consumer products to manufacture. They hired a young engineer, Mr. H.V.Slade, who became General Manager, who started the production of small lathes and boring tools. He had also seen a need for quality spring wound motors for the fast developing gramophone manufacturing industry. The first model, The Garrard Number 1 Spring Wound Gramophone Motor was produced and sales quickly followed.
1919 The White Heather Laundry had requested its premises back, and so the company looked for a new location. They moved to Swindon where there were plenty of skilled engineering apprentices from the Great Western Railway Company, the largest employer in the town.
1920 The development of the spring wound motor continued and as a result of its quality, silent running and price, it was used by the major gramophone companies, Columbia, Decca and His Masters Voice, and others such as Lugton, Selecta, Coppock, Itonia and Thompson, and Diamond and Butcher. The company had a policy that one model of every range should be the best obtainable. The "Super" Gramophone motor was the first of these prestige products - probably the best spring motor ever produced.
1920 - 1928 Other products produced at this time included motors for construction kits (Primus), a cine-camera/projector (Campro), and a device for playing records at a constant linear speed which almost doubled the playing time (The World Record Controller).
1926 Garrard became a public company to finance the expansion needed to meet the demand for spring motors.
1928 Development started on electrical motors for gramophones, which resulted in a belt drive motor called the Model E. Because there were few electrical supply standards at that time, it could be used with AC and DC, 25 to 100 Hz, and 50 to 250 Volts. Improvements led to the Model ED. As AC current became more common, the Models AC4 and AC6, the most popular electric gramophone motors of the time, were developed.
1930 The motor development programme led to the first Garrard gramophone. Previously it had only produced motors for its customers. They decided to make a super quality alternating current gramophone motor as a prestige model, just as they had done with the Super spring motor. This direct drive motor became known as the Garrard Model 201. It was taken up by the BBC and other broadcasters, cinemas, and it became very popular with HiFi enthusiasts. It was originally just for 78rpm records, but was later modified to play the 331/3rpm, 16 inch records used in cinemas. It was the first of what were later to be called transcription turntables.
1931 A subsidiary company, Garrard Clock Ltd was set up to manufacture and sell clocks using spring motors produced by the parent company.
1932 The first Garrard record changer, the RC1, was developed for shellac 78 rpm records by Mr E.W.Mortimer. These used AC current, but the RC2 series could use AC and DC. Subsequently a new dropping technique was obtained and the RC3 and the very popular RC4 was developed. About 4,500 were produced during the next 5 years. The development of radio tuners and amplifiers meant that electronic pickups could replace the old acoustic horn systems. This led to a big increase in the sales of radiograms, and record players. Garrard produced some arms and pickups for its turntables.
1938 The RC100 record changer, which could play both sides of each record, and also mixtures of 10 and 12 inch records, was produced for sale in the USA
1939 - 1945 Production ceased and large numbers of clock based mechanisms were made for mines, and other military equipment.
1945 Following the death of Major S.H.Garrard, all the links with Garrard and Company the Crown Jewellers were severed and The Garrard Engineering and Manufacturing Company Ltd. became a separate entity with Mr H.V.Slade as managing Director. Competition was fierce and a new record changer had to be rapidly developed - the Model TC30 (1946). It and similar models were produced around the clock as demand escalated. It was the last model to play only 78rpm records.
1948 The Model RC70 record changer was introduced to play the new 10 and 12 inch, 331/3rpm and 7 inch 45rpm vinyl records, as well as the older 78rpm records. It was the forerunner of the RC80 in 1950, which sold for many years. Large numbers were sold in the USA. New lightweight pickups and arms were developed for these records, and the RC80 was the first with a magnetic cartridge.
1954 Garrard 301 turntable launched for the serious HiFi market. It has become one of the icons of design and performance. When fully restored mechanically they are again in great demand. They had grease bearings which were later changed to oil bearings. The enamel colour was changed from grey to white. Clock making was stopped due to cut price competition.
1957 Garrard released one of the first stereo pickups, the Model GCS10, when stereophonic records were introduced. The Model 4HF was in production until 1965, by which time about 100,000 units had been produced. The TPA 12 inch transcriptions pickup arm was launched in 1958 for use transcription units for playing stereo and mono recordings. It had height and stylus pressure adjustment, and a plug-in pick-up head.
1958 A serious factory fire occurred, but production was restored with help from a local company, the Plessey Company Ltd., which loaned factory space. A further small factory in Blunsdon was acquired to produce component parts.
1959 The new Autoslim series was launched with help from Plessey. The SP25 was probably the most popular model Garrard ever produced.
1960 Garrard became part of the Plessey Group of Companies with the name Garrard Engineering Ltd., and another factory was acquired in Swindon. There was also a factory in Wigan which exported to the USA via Liverpool. Mr. H.V.Slade died a year later and in 1962 Garrard, as part of the Plessey Components Group, came under the direction of Mr T.H.Pritchard.
1959 Garrard developed a novel Magazine Tape Deck, but it failed as it was more cumbersome than the Phillips Compact Cassette launched in 1963.
1964 The Model Lab 80 was launched as the first record changer which had the performance of a transcription turntable. It had many unique adjustment features including a wooden arm.
1965 The Garrard 401 was launched to replace the 301. It was produced until 1977 when over 50,000 units had been sold, and it is still treasured by enthusiasts around the world. The Model SP25 was launched with the Mark I version. It was so popular it continued for many years up to the Mark IV version. A disco version, the Disco 80 was also produced.
1971 The Zero 100 automatic transcription table was introduced with its revolutionary tangential tracking arm. Garrard received a series of awards for its development - The Queens Award, The Italian Mercurio d'Oro Award, and the USA's Emile berliner Award.
1975 - 1976 Garrard's first direct drive player, the DD75 began production. The GT 20/25 and 35 were introduced and they stayed in production with design changes until 1979.
1978 The DD range of products, DD1 30, DD1 31, and DD1 32 were introduced in the autumn using the garrard designed and produced direct drive motor. Improved versions of the GT seies were introduced - the GT 250 and 350.
1979 Garrard sold to Gradiente Electronica of Brazil.
1992 The small development team led by the Managing director, which had remained at Swindon, was partly closed down.
1992 Terry O'Sullivan had been involved with turntables since he got his first Bush Record Player in 1958. After lusting after a 301 in the 60's, he started building plinths in 1979 and bought his first 401 from the factory in nearby Swindon. He began to collect and restore 301s and 401s and in 1990 he set up Loricraft Audio, encouraged by his friends Julian and Nigel, who owned the HiFi shop in Oxford, "Westwood and Mason". Terry visited the Garrard development team at Swindon up till 1995, when it was finally closed down completely, and he still remains in contact with some of the owners and employees.
1997 Following the closure, Terry opened discussions with Gradiente and in 1997 he obtained the licence to use the Garrard brand name. Gradiente had always wanted development to continue and the later that year the award winning Garrard 501 was launched at the London Audio Show.
200... The small team of Terry, Nigel (yes, the innovative electronic engineer from the Oxford HiFi shop) and Martina (who has worked with Thorens and Ortophon) can be seen at the London, Frankfurt and Las Vegas HiFi shows, where their turntables are in great demand to drive high end amplification systems, and satisfied owners take their chance to talk about the history and engineering of these renowned turntables.

R.I.P. Dept./WJAAS (slightly) related - Shingo ARAKI 荒木伸吾 passed away

2011-12-03T20:48:00.005+01:00

My condolences to his family and collaborators... he enriched our life.

Musings... dadaist news from ETF 2011

2011-11-30T11:34:00.008+01:00

A tank-shaped... better a true 5 litres tank with a built-in tube amp using a mighty 45 balloon triode...

No comment... kudos for the dadaist soul who built it and thanks to Thomas Schick and to Holger Barske for the pixes;-)

BTW - The handle sure helps in portability and the sound... well, cannot be anything else than liquid;-)

R.I.P. Dept. - Ken Russell passed away

2011-11-29T22:13:00.005+01:00

The great visionary director whose connection with music was so strong, from David Munrow to The Who, to Rick Wakeman to Delius and Fenby, to Tchaikovski to Thomas Dolby, sadly passed away on last Nov. 27th, aged 84.

R.I.P.

Garrardzilla!

2011-11-27T08:38:00.014+01:00

After the giant spindle for our beloved 301s - see a previous, recent post - I'm finishing another "hommage" to Garrard 301 and its GREATNESS... only (a little) better:-)

An extremely limited batch, an handful, plainly said, of replicas of 301's strobo-less platters, super accurately lathed from a single B14 bell-bronze "slice" bullion, maniacally balanced to stand still on a zero degrees flat seismic platform - same happens to your car tyres and wheels, when balanced at the tyre workshop, only MUCH more carefully and precisely - my friend Mario copiously ejaculated:-) when the first samplers, finished in mirror-like appearance, brought to the balancing workshop, a NASA-like white coats (lunatics) place simply didn't need ANY balancing at all!

People there hand-clapped:-)... a machinist's machinist dream.

This one-of-a-kind replica platter is weighting about 14 kilos and to be safely used with standard 301 chassis needs a sort-of stainless-steel ring underside the chassis, to be sandwiched with my own spindle, sturdier and more apt to accept such a weight... while it's SIMPLY an heavenly mechanical matching with Ray's solid, thicker bespoke chassis.

Like a friend from NYC (she knows who's...) told me, I'm bringing 301 to its higher limits, like a mix between a Micro old, superb turntable and... something new, a super-breed which only a bunch of us tempted to reach, out there.

So, here is the "Garrardzilla" a totally new breed of Garrard 301, using the best available replicas parts around, ALL made as a labour-of-love, first, by people who loved 301 for decades... Ray, myself and a bunch of lunatics... stainless steel brand new springs, my own spindle, platter, slate plinth and arm-bases, Ray's solid chassis... sure a further step to improve vinyl playing and music retrival.

I'll finish platters in chassis matching colour, butter white, grey hammertone... or any colour of choice, also craziest:-)

Price? I apologize, quite steeply priced, folks... the lathing begins from a 50 kilos bronze bullion of best extruded quality, quite expensive also as a raw material, so the most of material goes in debrises... and also careful, lengthy, ultra-precise manual machining had its costs, of course.

I made it for my very own super-duper 301, and painted it grey to match Ray's grey hammertone "solid"... I'll soon eBay my full Shindo's combo: spindle, platter and blue 800 grams leaded-cloth mat, with no regrets at all.

A dear friend of mine, with VERY same 301's combo, already did it:-)

Anyway, only a couple left, still raw bronze... anyone interested?

Detailed pictures will follow...

Raymond Clark's "Hi-Fi Classics" freshly brewed bespoke Garrard 301s

2011-11-25T12:05:00.006+01:00

... sure Ray has his VERY strong vision on the matter!

I love his solid-aluminium "thick" Garrard 301's chassis... cannot stay in my shoes waiting for my own... just ordered one for my 301 in silver slate plinth!

Bravo to Ray and to Shaun, as well for the beautiful, elegant and cool double-decker plinths.

Mario or the art of lathing

2011-11-24T12:49:00.014+01:00

My friend Mario is the man behind my "una-tantum" outsourcing... we've been friends for the last 22 years, now and he never end surprising me, teaching to me very esoteric knowledge in materials and machining them and more.

... no pixes of Mario... he's too shy and cool kind of guy for this and if I try to take a shot of him at the lathe, he damn me heavily;-) telling I'm a signorina and his workshop isn't a place for female gender:-)))

... anyway, not a serious issue... he's genuine Tom Waits' twin... he's tall like him, he speaks and moans and groans and MOST OF ALL, he looks like Tom Waits...

When I showed him a TW's picture, years ago, Mario yelled loudly and told me to stop taking pictures at the workshop without his permission:-))))

More than twenty years ago I was a full ignorant and asked about screws and things talking "in cm"... after he almost killed me with an huge screwdriver:-), years ago, after I asked for a bespoke alu part 8 centimeters long... he deadly seriously told me with - yessss.... - a low growling TW-like voice - "Hey you, HERE in my workshop talking or quoting centimeters isn't allowed, period!"

I could write a short story about the several, numberless events I witnessed or the tales made of arms cut straight by a metal lathe debris or when he began working as a kid for 15 hours a-day or the rifle champion who brings his premium bullets to be balanced at "ZERO" center flat to obtain a trajectory the most straight and winning to the target... talking about 200+ meters shots, pals...

Everything new intrigues Mario and his knowledge is on same par as his skills...

It seems from my above words I fell in love with Mario... yes, that's true, as friendship is sex-less love, don't you:-)))

Seriously speaking, Tom... aehm... Mario surprised one more time only few hours ago... imagine... better, what the hell, I took some (bad) pixes with iPhone:-) - it's a sort-of projector with lights and lenses and a BIIIG scope, something looking like a Jules Verne's Nautilus cockpit:-), all metal pale-blue hammertone, made in UK by Walton Engineering Mfg. Ltd, a magnifying-lens machine for quality control... he saved it from being dumped in the garbage, when a workshop was closing... the crisis, you know...

This cool piece of gears sure costed "something"... and it's something which talks about quality and care for workmanship and final product.

He passionately taught to me about how it works and the mods he made to further improve it and the merits, before and after his modding...

In half an hour I knew about this... thing a lot.

Thanks to Mario for being, as his always being hungry and thirsty of novelties and caring about virtually everything he does makes him a rare breed... an humble genius and lucky enough he have a good time working and he's able to infuse in his daily job same love and care a composer does to his music... with smoothness and easyness.

A poet with noble, big, strong, greasy hands... and one of them is showed, with his permission:-) on one pix, pals.

Sergio Altamura or the most beautiful 12 strings acoustic tune I heard in eons

2011-11-21T07:51:00.007+01:00

Impressive, haunting, poetic, evocative, beautiful...

Sergio's playing is plainly superb.

Thanks to my friend Daniele for hinting:-)

U.S. Green Hill and the beagles puppies killing-factory... a shame!

2011-11-20T14:20:00.008+01:00

Few days ago, the italian ex-minister Brambilla, notoriously a pet and nature lover, almost an activist, visited a lager-like death-factory in Montichiari, near Brescia, Northern Italy... american Green Hill, breeds here thousands beadles dogs used for experiments and extremely paunful surgeries for medical purpouses.

They "produce" these guinea-pigs for laboratories of whole Europe... THE problem is no animal is a stone, and when people at the channell/lager compared dogs to chickens, they were double-folds wrong, as also chickens are worth attention and consideration... and, most important, cancer and other diseases won't be over with those poor pups sacrifices.

Let's blame Green Hill's death and vivisectioning ugliness... it's against our beloved pups and against Life... Brambilla's showed new born pups and ther mums... they only share few days together... it's a truly barbaric practice!

I STRONGLY blame this and the awful conditions those people leave dogs... a jail with shit-mixed to bad food on the bare floors, neon lights tweleve hours a-day and crying and lamenting all the day long... employees wear ears-protections... and dogs?

Who are THE animals?!?!

BLAME on THEM!!!

Sunday disc - Steve Wilson's Grace for Drowning on K-Scope

2011-11-20T13:44:00.003+01:00

Wilsons rules, these days:-)))

Steve's last double vinyl is something to be listened to and experienced... extremely various atmospheres and sounds, where a lazy, reverbered nylon strings guitar and a screaming, cool electric guitar define an icy, pure world...

This second solo album of the man behind Opeth, Porcupine Tree and several other projects - have a look at his works and site, on TGE's Picks Blog bar - is even better than his first "Insurgentes", always on a gorgeous double vinyl pressing.

It's '70s Brit psych, smooth electro-acoustic rock hinting to some Syd Barret, some early Pink Floyd, BUT still brand new music... fresh, pleasant, gothic and light as the same time... and, folks... a recording to par!

I truly enjoyed this very disc... and hearfeltly suggest it to everyone:-)

Zen & Audio - How "wrong" can become "right"

2011-11-20T07:39:00.009+01:00

Yesterday I had a pleasant afternoon at my friend Toni's place, after he invited me to taste and enjoy his system, after some mods, in placement and gears, he recently made.

Well, I was already aware of "what" he did as he previously told me over the phone... BUT when I was in his music room... well, I smiled... how, when did you EVER saw an Onken W standing on shorter side?!?!?

All looks soooo wrong, don't you?

Is this guy crazy?

Did he get crack or something:-)))?!?!

No... not the case, folks... my friend simply mixed ingredients in his recipe to obtain a different dish.

The vertical-standing Onken W was far more natural and unbooming and nicely modulating... the Altec 1806 superb horn, also standing on shorter side, was even more weird looking and unseen around...

... but...

... but...

Music rules, pals... didn't mention the new, China-made "Doge" tube preamp which superseded the Audio Research preamp Toni was previously using... cool, inexpensive piece of gear, coming with a cool amulimium-made remote-control reminding my wife's Jolida's 300B amp superb building quality... and a transparency and improved detailing I didn't experience so often, at Toni's (and he knew that...).

... what I heard was a very introspective and involving, natural sound, with MUCH better sizing and soundstaging, both horizontal and vertical... he completely quitted using Goto's SG/370 and 16TT and now enjoy TAD 2002 in Sound Lab mid/high horn and Altec 290 in 1806 mid-low horn... Onken W always with Altec 416s...

What can I say? Falla/Ansermet/Suisse Romande's Three Cornered Hat on Decca Blue-Back, Peter Gabriel's UP, Ludwig Streicher's singing double bass and Bottesini on Telefunken... all flowed sooooo beautifully and as brand new.

A very nice result, Toni... also if using pawn-shop cabling and crossover:-))), my friend's musical ear and sensitivity were able to give such a result... a case where the grand-total is more than the sum of single parts.

Clever.

Thanking Toni for his hosting, kindness and dedication... and my apologies for ugly iPhone's in-low-lights pixes... lo-fi at best:-)

Introducing (John Holmes-sized) "Universal Spindle" for Garrard 301 and 401

2011-11-17T16:25:00.019+01:00

I'd wish to introduce my own "Universal Spindle" good... would say SPECIAL, for both stock 301 and 401, any vintage... it's an humble - sort-of - "back-engineering homage", with some improvements, most of all in materials quality and tight, ultra-precise to .000 mm machining, suggested by among the very best of ALL classic idler-wheel turntables spindles of the last decades.

I carefully dismantled and studied in details - pros & cons - my own, old original Shindo's, Commonwealth/Westrex 12D's, Garrard 301's and EMT 930st's spindles and every design had its caveats and merits... me and my machinist painstackingly made some prototypes and reached a stethoscope-friendly, extremely quiet rotating behaviour REALLY seldom heard and experienced... the rotation, after 78 rpm sudden stopping, is of about four minutes+ to complete stop... and most important, every original Garrard's platter can be used without any problem, plug'n'play:-)... it's a stainless-steel spindle with double luxury-quality bearings and super-flat/mirror-polished Delrin bottom, oil-feeding "chimney" and light molybdenum grease at bearings... a masterpiece... I'm herewith posting the very first (iPhone) pixes taken near the lathe which produced it.. and some more, shot shortly after, and showing a direct comparison vs. original 301's spindle and mounted on White Whale 301's platter... spindle measures 130 mm vs. 90 mm Garrard's original, as measured from underside of spindle pillar: macho and the boy:-)... aehm, meant "toy":-)))

Last but not least, I also made the disc spindle slightly longer/higher than original, for a more friendly use of clamps and additional and/or heavier mats; will ship with an oil-bottle and syringe to avoid troubles in transit and time-wasting when receiving it, while (light) molybdenum-grease will already be in place.

Best of both worlds - i.e. grease AND (compatible) oil.

As I made an extremely limited batch of these lathing and mechanic beauties, I guess this part should be of interest to (some) Garrard-lovers around, at VERY friendly price-tags and superb craftmanship and materials... the spindle has a stainless-steel mirrored-surface and guarantees a smoothness to be "felt" to be believed... a rare find, anywhere at any price!

I'll be selling my (original) Shindo's spindle, soon... it's THAT good, folks.

John Fahey's Fonotone (pre-Takoma) sought-after recordings... finally re-issued

2011-11-17T13:23:00.003+01:00

The liner notes for Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You-- the complete recordings guitarist John Fahey made for the tiny but crucial Fonotone label between 1958 and 1965-- comprise an 88-page book, bound in beautifully toned, dense cardboard. These 88 pages brim with an obsessive sort of information about Fahey: his slapdash drawings of important people and places in his life, the first known photograph of him with a Gibson F-hole guitar, the receipt for his Holzapfel 12-string, his Boy Scouts photo, and even a personal letter to Fonotone owner Joe Bussard where he begs for recordings of a few old blues heroes. There's a revealing and hitherto unpublished interview, remembrances from past collaborators, and Italian researcher Claudio Guerrieri's guide to the various hand-written labels Bussard affixed to the center of each record he hand-cut on order.

The centerpiece of the book is Malcolm Kirton's exhaustive 40-page examination of every track on the 115-piece, 5xCD, six-hour set, including Fahey's thoughts on the tunes, his tunings, his techniques, and how a scrawny, awkward white kid from the suburbs of Washington, D.C. came to learn obscure songs from even more obscure black bluesmen long before CD reissues and online archives were even an idea. It should be noted that Kirton also helped produce The Roots of John Fahey, a free online archive of many of the songs in question. Like this set, it is also essential. As the guitarist, enthusiast, and project co-producer Glenn Jones quips in his own introduction, "Let's face it, who is this set for if not Fahey's most hardcore fans?"

Actually, Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You is not just for Fahey zealots. It's for anyone interested in the story of American music, from its Appalachian string bands and mean-moaning Delta blues singers to the hymns sung from its church pews and the country-rock anthems soon enough crafted by its hippies. But Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You is not only the story of the musician John Fahey, it's also the story of the songs that have become crucial to his country, a place that Fahey explored from one end (he was raised in Maryland) to the other (he lived in Hawaii at one point and died in Oregon). Somewhat comparable to the sprawling ethnomusicological work of Alan Lomax, Harry Smith, Art Rosenbaum, Nick Perls, and others like them, Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You is a rich overview of America's musical bedrock-- only here, it's told through the hard-won, fast-paced development of a guitarist who, in turn, changed the way future players could consider their instrument. A must-have collection of lore, music, and history, it's a unified, brilliant, and often very challenging archive.

During four decades between the time this set was recorded and Fahey's death in 2001, the guitarist would cover expansive musical ground, from transfixing, blues-based tone poems that stretched the boundaries of his instrument to, years later, luminous drones that synced with the interests of a new generation of his advocates. As Robbie Basho said in an oft-repeated explanation, "Fahey and myself are playing frustrated little symphonies on guitar." Over time, he was a philosophy major, an author, a record label owner, a curator, and a strange storyteller. However, here on these either unreleased or very hard-to-find tracks, he's a young American adult rifling through his friends' record collections and taking road trips to rural lands to find the music and musicians that he really loves-- raging country blues and blissful acoustic hymns, written and recorded by the likes of Charley Patton, Robert Johnson, Elizabeth Cotten, Bukka White, Will Moore, Mississippi John Hurt, and a canon of others, all while building his own style.

Emotionally, technically, and stylistically, Fahey makes for a suitably uneven tour guide through these dusty back pages, like a metabolic personification of Greil Marcus' old, weird America. On one version of "Poor Boy Blues", recorded in 1959, he plays with a great, repetitive sadness, the 20-year-old doing his best to sing like a Mississippi septuagenarian, as if inborn with an inescapable melancholy. About a year earlier, he'd folded the same tune into "Libba's Rag", an apparent homage to mentor Elizabeth Cotten. It sounds young and vaguely hopeful, always on the verge of lifting off. Nearly two years later, he wove a glimpse of another version of the tune-- learned from his master of sorts, Charley Patton-- into "Dasein River Blues", the kind of slow, wobbly, serpentine country-blues stagger that would eventually give some of Fahey's best-known music its trademark, trance-like essence. Fahey sometimes navigates these tunes with crystalline clarity, as with his stately reverence for the fifth-century "St. Patrick's Hymn" or his haunted slide guitar dirge behind "In the Pines", a duet with mountain singer Fran Vandiver. Elsewhere, he pugnaciously repurposes the material, as when he snaps the strings hard against the slide of a 1960 take on "John Henry" or slurs the words of "Green Blues". He hammers out the chords with a great aggression, as though they'd said something about his mother.

Admittedly, some of the material here stands as a curiosity at best. Fahey's six collaborations with flautist Nancy McLean function more as a testament to his inquisitiveness as a player and listener than something you'll want to hear repeatedly; the same goes for his raucous, wasted take on "I Shall Not Be Moved". Similarly, some of the short guitar solos included here-- two versions of the gorgeous cowboy song "Goodbye Old Paint" or his slide through "House Carpenter"-- aren't testaments to his otherwise-apparent abilities as an arranger. They simply shape our understanding of his lexicon. By set's end, though, Fahey's working through knotty versions of the romantic "How Long" and "You Take the E Train" (better known as "The Last Steam Engine Train"). These songs and several of their contemporaries illustrate Fahey's very original synthesis of folk, blues, classical, and even old American standards. He was a zealous collector and an ingenious interpreter, two qualities that Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You takes great care to link.

Fahey's legacy and reputation among modern guitarists is overwhelming and inescapable. Just as pop-rock bands with stacked harmonies and two guitars can't escape Beatles comparisons, an upstart learning to flatpick must initially step up to or around Fahey's prominence. Though Your Past Comes Back to Haunt You lives up to its name by finally presenting a lot of material Fahey admitted he would rather forget, it ultimately confirms his stature as one of music's pioneering polymaths. The tunes here are, at turns, funny or solemn, sober or delirious, studied or shambolic, but, with it all, Fahey was able to ingest and utilize a broad range of feelings and ideas into takes that remain totally singular and identifiable.

During a session at home with Bussard in the spring of 1960, Fahey cut seven songs, including a particularly charged version of "Sitting on Top of the World" and a delicate, subtle ragtime mutation he called "Hill High Blues". The last song Fahey ostensibly cut that day was "Paint Brush Blues", improvised on a lark after he picked up a paintbrush Bussard used to keep his record lathe clean. He beats the strings, the chords radiating through the speakers. It's a tossed-off moment, certainly, but the anything-goes spirit validates what Kirton calls a sign of "Fahey's experimental propensities." Fahey was a restless listener, tinkerer, thinker, and player-- a combination that makes this set fascinating both as a history book and a lifetime listening indulgence.

The lute: a dinosaur-like instrument or...

2011-11-17T13:13:00.001+01:00

JOZEF VAN WISSEM: It Is All That Is Made CD
IMPORTANT RECORDS / IMPREC 232CD

THE LUTE?!

The lute is a chordophone, a wooden instrument that produces sound through the vibration of stretched strings. It is in the same family as the harp, guitar, lyre, and zither. We tend to think of the lute as a medieval European instrument, from the Rennaissance and Baroque era. But it derives from the Arabian oud and its evolution really dates back to at least Egyptian times, in the 14th century BC.

Much of the music that was played on the lute during the Renaissance period was improvised and so it was largely not recorded in written form. The music was similar to what was being played on keyboard at the time and was usually accompanied by voice. You probably associate the lute with the complex fantasias and fugues of the Romantic period.

But forget the complicated medieval music that you associate with the lute. Jozef van Wissem brings his own modern minimalist compositions to the instrument, incorporating hypnotic musical palindromes. This is Van Wissem's 14th release to date, some of which came out on his own Incunabulum imprint.

Uncredited sales notes:
"It Is All That Is Made consists of six trance-inducing circular pieces composed for 10 course renaissance -- and 13 course baroque lute. The titles of the pieces and the storyline critically juxtapose the first chapter of Genesis with more contemporary narratives. This evokes a parallel to the mixing of idiomatic classical lute material of the 17th century with modern folk and avantgarde music. The pieces are played forward, then backward, creating music that is potentially without beginning or end. It Is All That Is Made consists of recurring minimal themes emphasizing the listening experience. Composer-lute player Jozef Van Wissem is renowned for his unusual approach to the Renaissance and Baroque lute, probably the most unlikely instruments in the world of contemporary music. He cuts and pastes classical pieces, reverses melodies, adds electronics and processed field recordings made in airport lounges and train stations. The unusual wedlock of composition and improvisation creates an unheard amalgam of contemporary folk and early music. Van Wissem has accomplished the strange feat of bridging the idiom of seventeenth century lute literature and twenty-first century contemporary music. Although he uses subtle electronic sound manipulation, he has largely stayed faithful to the particular timbre, resonance and playing technique of the lute. Van Wissem first came to be noticed a few years ago because of his radical conceptual approach to Renaissance lute music: He deconstructed existing compositions, for instance, by playing them backwards. He also composed his own pieces for lute, using palindromes and mirrored structures. His music therefore does not have a traditional linear progression, nor leads to a climax, it rather stays on the same level of intensity. His music not so much demands concentrated listening, as it brings the listener in a state of concentrated listening. He performs extensively around the world."

Drinkify!

2011-11-14T19:23:00.002+01:00

Just try it...

Cool... aehm... On the Rocks:-)))

Thanks to Massimo for hinting... and kampai!

Ryuichi Sakamoto live in Padua or the (bitter) frustration

2011-11-13T22:56:00.016+01:00

Just back home from Sakamoto's live concert in Padua... this concert has hit my lowest instincts... yes, Morelenbaum and his cello, Sakamoto's grand piano, the violin and viola player... BUT, also if I spent an amount of money worth 3 or 4 vinyl-discs;-)... I was seated tenth or eleventh row in an over-heated theatre, the prey of audience noises and musical idiosyncrasies.

This sure brought me to a strangely bad, negative mood: for me "live concert" means breathing same air artist breathes, also feeling but also looking at his gestures, tics, expressions, whatever makes me nearer to the artist himself... also, from the first rows were I usually (try to) sit, I'm able to enjoy both amplified (if any) and - to some extant - acoustic, natural instrument/voice...

Otherwise... well, it sounds maybe excessive, too, TOO much... but... I dare, yesss, I dare saying it: otherwise, I far, far, I mean faaaar more prefere listening to, Sakamoto, for example, in Gotorama shiny - my very own - realism!

... aaaaahhhhhhhhh... feel much better, now!

I mean, people coughin', one hundred kilometers highway, the fog, the hard chairs and... yes, also, must sincerely say, the far away stage almost dark and the not so "right" (let's say "opinable") choice of his (superb) music for such a large venue... well, I was thinking to beloved "Casa" or "Chasm" or "BTTB" or any other Sakamoto's disc issued in the last decade... no, not on the stage, one hour or so ago, BUT in my studio... ah!

Instead of those pro BIG concert speakers, nice as monitors but absolutely flawed in returning (all) the subtleties of the trio, I didn't realize 'til now I prefere listening at home... believe me, it's almost a defeat for yours truly... also if I attend to several, say about 30+ classical concerts per year and, say, 10 or so jazz/folk/rock concerts per year, I never had such a negative reaction to a great musician live concert! NEVER, ever!

... hey, Sakamoto-san... why are you laughing to my frustration?:-)))

Must say that, some months ago, I noticed the seed of the above mentioned craziness, while "enjoying" Van der Graaf Generator (sans David Jackson's saxes) I left theatre wildly blaming over Peter Hammill's choice to play without the saxes... beloved "Man-Erg" from Pawn Hearts seminal album was so disappointing I screamed after the piece, while my friends and whole theatre were handclapping, "Shaaaaame... where is Jacksooooon?!?! Shaaame":-)))

I risked to be picked up by the whitecoats guys and their straightcoats:-)))

... so, seriously: is it possible that listening to my stereo gives me (sometimes) more, MUCH more than a live event?

Will I attend again to a (non classical, jazz or acoustic) concert?

I'm both sad and happy... going schizophrenic?

... yes, maybe and... yes:-)!

... forgettin' to say: I quitted the venue and a concert flawed by a someway unhappy playlist, an extremely noisy air conditioning and highway traffic noises in the background... one hour or so was more than enough... I extremely enjoyed some opera at the radio, on my way back home.

Sunday's disc - Jonathan Wilson's Gentle Spirit on Bellaunion

2011-11-13T12:51:00.005+01:00

A great, great disc, pals... it's a double vinyl recorded in (ex) LaurelCanyon's glorious analog sound - i.e. the full analog studio relocated always in LA suburbs as Five Star Sudios, previously in LA's hills and now in Echo Park, BUT always loaded of Neumann's Pultech's Neve's and other goodies... and the sound will let you hear the difference between Pro-Tool and the above!

Jonathan Wilson is a (someway) romantic guy born in 1974 but whose tits-milk was CSN&Y, Jackson Browne and all "our" heroes hinted.

I love, TRULY love when a youngster follow (and often improves) THE fathers' path:-)

It's sort-of a smoth revolution... evolution?!?! "Natural Rhapsody" on side two will give shivers and shivers and shivers...

Stop kiddin'.... go and buy it... vinyl is SPECIAL and will make your ears, heart and audio system HAPPY!

11/11/11... a new palindrome...

2011-11-11T10:40:00.006+01:00

A lesser, slightly interpretative kind-of palindrome, less beautiful than this previous one, BUT still something which intrigues people worldwide... best day-date for virtually everything, from marrying to arm VTA fine-tuning;-), 11/11/11 is, nonetheless, "something";-)

WJAAS - Hair-styling and (Vintage) Audio in Osaka, Japan

2011-11-10T08:31:00.007+01:00

A new frontier, folks... here is a cool place where - with clever scissors sounds - you can also enjoy, in glorious Western Electric sound, your fave lounge music... a plus included in the hair-cutting service!

Thanking my friend Kazumasa-san for hinting;-)

The milkshake

2011-11-07T10:31:00.013+01:00

Yesterday and on last Saturday I had two very satisfying listenings at my studio... nor strange, neither a rare event, must say;-)

... what I noticed was, instead, a sense of cohesiveness, like a creamy, extremely tasty, so full of multi-coloured nuances... a luscious, smooth (musical) milkshake, where, say, banana, peach, strawberry, milk and ice were all so nicely blended... where the colour wasn't yellow or pink, anymore, but a new colour and no chops and debris of a.m. fruits... only the grand-total - i.e. the milkshake itself - was "there", as a new essence... the dynamics, detailing and that always surprising sense of "brand-new" which hits me - the listener - at every note or so... well, Holger Czukay's "On the way to the peak of normal" on EMI was a never-ending source of enjoyment, as the analog tape multi-editing, loops and reversed-tape created a studio-made soundstage, BUT, nonetheless tremolo electric guitar sounds were so lively and owning an extremely various nature... and each note was shiny and surprising in its VERY own, as I told you.

Also Kate Bush's "Aerial" on EMI double vinyl proved to be - unsurprisingly - a magical aural and musical experience... nice, while waiting for her new "50 Words for Snow", out these days.

Like when I was a teenager and found that old milk-bar, Bar Esperia in Padua... I used to drink one or two milkshakes in a row, as one only woke up my taste and pleasure, so a second one was mandatory... same happens with my Gotorama: one disc, followed by a second one... then I sort of reach an acme, a pleasure overload, and I turn off the system and have the short walk back home.

I - sort-of - fill up the tank with emotions and musical satisfaction and I do not REALLY need those loooong listenings as I used to, years ago... I'm not greedy, anymore; like a superb food doesn't need a pig-manger, a trough-sized dish, BUT form and classy presentation and look and good smell... I'm content, fully satisfied, so I simply go back home to my wife and dog... strangely (or not), I also play my instruments - acoustic guitars, both 6 and 12 strings, and oud - much more than some months ago, when the fine-tuning of my system was still an issue which, sort-of, left me "musically tired".

Music, as life, needs balance and a quiet serenity to be fully appreciated, as appreciation isn't - for yours truly - only at ears level, but at a much, MUCH deeper, spiritually and physically, level... a very intensity-variable, ever-changing form, something which moves like a Vu-meter needle depending on mood, weather, etc.

... but, still, a necessity like air and water.

No comment!

2011-11-06T19:34:00.002+01:00

From a recent Venice's Biennale Arte trip... "Shooting at Earth" by (Taiwanese artist) Chen Shin-Hung... sooooooooooo true!

Rio... new Keith Jarrett's disk on ECM

2011-11-05T17:55:00.003+01:00

A new Keith "gne-gne":-) Jarrett's is ALWAYS much welcome!

Liquid Sky

2011-11-04T11:36:00.007+01:00

Must see it, as per my friend Massimo suggestion...

A low budget, acid tinted and hinted sci-fi movie from a Russian/Israelian/American director...

Lenco Variations

2011-11-04T09:28:00.003+01:00

A renaissance or a Lenco for every season.

Music and its tools - Mimmo Peruffo's Aquila Corde Armoniche

2011-11-03T16:17:00.007+01:00

Mimmo's workshop is almost empty, naked... as he only needs large space for drying strings... a Zen kind-of "factory"... BUT almost every lutanist (Hopkinson Smith in primis...), oud players and classical guitarists and ukelele players... ALL swears "Aquila Corde Armoniche", nylon and gut strings painstackingly hand-made one-by-one in Vicenza, Italy, represents the very Zenith for them and their instruments...

A well kept secret...

Stay hungry, stay foolish!

2011-11-03T14:34:00.003+01:00

Steve Jobs' speech and "letio magistralis" at Stanford University...

"I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5Â¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

Steve Jobs"

A common man visionary wisdom... the best one!

David Munrow

2011-10-30T08:19:00.006+01:00

... to do NOT forget him, here is a truly superb site held by Robert Searle and lovingly dedicated to the memory and music of the late David Munrow... the Pied Piper, from the title of the radio program he held for 600+ hours on BBC... where about 600+ different topics were touched!!!

David remains a personal hero of mine... to enjoy his class and art, browse the a.m. site and order... ORDER the six Granada (British) TV screenplays which were broadcasted in early '70s... it's one of my MOST cherished DVD and I often play it on some rainy Saturday afternoons... and I always have a glimpse of a better world.

For the Ancient Music scholar, here is, repeated "ad abundantia" from a previous post I wrote years ago on the VERY matter...
it's part of the huge archives papers, letters, concert programs, etc written by and concerning DM.... browse freely, as I did for years, now and enjoy!

Horse Power

2011-10-28T20:34:00.006+02:00

Thanking Roman's (always) cool site, here is a not so jokingly cartoon rendition of a badly integrated multi-channell speakers system.

Instructive... and amusing!

Carnage by Roman Polanski

2011-10-26T14:33:00.003+02:00

Polanski did it, again.

A quite claustrophobic movie, BUT, nonetheless, very amusing and... WASP!

Morning Glory

2011-10-24T21:34:00.001+02:00

Arnaldo's masterpiece... bravo!

A very, VERY sad GP Sunday - Marco Simoncelli dies at 24

2011-10-23T18:44:00.007+02:00

During today Sepang/Malaysia's MotoGP, the young, talented, "crazy" ace, the italian motorbike-racer Marco Simoncelli unfortunately was hitted by Edwards and Rossi - his close friend, by ill-fated chance - after he badly slipped on a bend.

It was clear he was heavily wounded... a broken neck is deadly stuff...

It's really a sad evenience, folks... a young champion, a young life was lost... thieved, washed away!

R.i.p. to Marco, fondly remembering his simpathy and look, with his long hairs in the noble tradition of Omobono Tenni, the late Guzzi italian champion during '30s and '40s, who also sported a magnificient, lion-like mane.

Psychedelic lunch

2011-10-23T18:23:00.003+02:00

While making order on the table, after a pleasant, relaxed Sunday lunch with my wife, I noticed this very dish... some premium olive oil mixed with the (remaining) juice of some red-turnips... it immediately reminded me of San Francisco's musical scene... Winterland, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Grateful Dead and those light shows by Owsley and others...

Funny...

John Martyn's Solid Air... a cover

2011-10-21T12:49:00.010+02:00

After trying and trying for years... sure NOT the most difficult tune I know, but I wasn't able to play it fluidly and fluently on my six strings acoustic guitar; few months ago.... bang!... I found this on YouTube and... well, Rich saved me;-)))

Knowing the tuning - a weird one, I admit - i.e. C-G-D#-F-A#-D - wasn't so easy, I say... but this cool guy taught to me ALL: tuning, fingering, slapping, vocals and overall feeling of that superb song!

It's the proof a master (Rich, in this case....) tells more than any music-sheet/tablature, which wasn't able to give to me the real thing, that twangy, laid back feeling, the late John Martyn gave us all as first track of his seminal, blasting Island disc, decades ago!

So, thanks a lot, Rich... and thanks, dear John!

Oliver Sacks's "Musicophilia"

2011-10-20T13:20:00.004+02:00

Thanking Bjork and her hinting, here is a devastating, awesome book about... well, you know, as it's in the title...

"Music can move us to the heights or depths of emotion. It can persuade us to buy something, or remind us of our first date. It can lift us out of depression when nothing else can. It can get us dancing to its beat. But the power of music goes much, much further. Indeed, music occupies more areas of our brain than language does–humans are a musical species."

... I'm reading it, now... and find the tales, samplers, interviews, stories quite exhalting and mind-opening and a MUCH better time-filler than (any) TV program;-)

A great near-the-bed companion for any music (and serious-enough audio)-lover, and a book which, someway, goes deeper in unveiling (...) the so still mysterious interaction between us, our mind and music.

Vladimir Janklevitch and "Musicological Philosophy"

2011-10-20T13:05:00.007+02:00

This intriguing, often debated French/Russian philosopher, who (someway) hated Erik Satie and his musical tricks, extensively wrote about the most enigmatic and ineffable features of music and its ability to say/not-say/express, but only hinting something... to suggest a mood, a landscape... also the smell and the feeling of a place.

Maybe worthwhile further investigation as only a philosopher - sometimes - owns the skill to properly describe the ineffable.

Yard-Sale - My audio leftovers - a pre-view...

2011-10-18T15:21:00.082+02:00

Before going Ebay/Audiogon/wherever, anyone interested?

Having been an almost compulsive (but careful...;-)) audio-buyer for decades, now, here is the (partial) list of my very first "yard-sale", ever:

- Goto CF-1 4 ways active/electronic crossover 100V (including a bulky custom-made, outboard 100-to-220V transformer) 18 db/octave - freq. 220/1000/5000 hz;

- Goto SG-555PS mid-low drivers 100/1000 hz 16 ohm with original Goto wooden-box and aluminium adapters for Goto S-150B mid-low horn - Sejia Goto-san made it as a replica with permanent magnet of original Western Electric 555, also same "narrow" throat of ONLY 18mm... the driver is a true beast, possibly also a great driver for some Western Electric 15A replicas by Aldo D'Urso (Audio Anthology), still cheaper than a complete so fussy and hassley Tungar P.S.U. and WE555's;

- Thomas Mayer, lovingly handmade in Germany power amp, transformers-coupled, with old (NOT ISO...) Tango XE-20 and ALL Lundhal's irons throughtout and best sounding paper-in-oil caps and silver-wiring inside - 4/8/16 ohm taps, using those soooo special 6CB5A tubes true "300B sound" and handy, still "cheap" tubes and coming with a full spare set of boxed, N.O.S. tubes - 220V - great, great 8 WATT amp, superb for horns and broadband, single speakers;

- A & E Technical Research ECN-5 - 5-ways active/electronic crossover - 6 db/octave - to be used as 2-3-4 (as I'm still doing now, using it in my Gotorama system) and 5 ways - 230V Made in Japan - superb sound;

- Jolida JA-300 integrated amp using 300Bs triodes and 274A-like (5R4GT) rectifiers... a 35 kilos beast, gorgeous look and sound, with remote control, original double boxes and papers - 220V - (proudly) made in China:-):

- Marantz 7C tube pre-amp from the '60s with six "Diamond/Smooth plate" N.O.S. Telefunken ECC-83 100 % unmodified/original, as built by Saul Marantz and Sidney Smith + wooden case + original papers - truly seldom seen 220V original!!!!!;

- Garrard 301 "White Whale" - butter-white platter in matching white birch-plinth, ready for any 12 inches arm - coming with a red thick felt-mat;

- Slate plinth for Garrard 301 in Ferrari "Giallo Modena" (bright yellow) - gorgeous one-of-a-kind 45 kilos custom-made plinth;

- Marantz 10B tube-tuner, the "Rolls-Royce" of tuners from the '60s + wooden case + fully original/unmodified/serviced, perfectly working, with original papers - 117V;

- McIntosh C-22 '60s classic pre-amp - undented, unscratched, perfectly working - ex-117V U.S. voltage, professionally converted to 230V many years ago - a truly lush, sexy piece of gear;

- Studer B-67 rare High-Speed open - reel tape recorder, VU-meter version, 3 speeds: 7,5/15/30 i.p.s., with original orange (thick) user's manual/schematics;

- EMT 997 "Banana" 12 inches arm, N.O.S. in original wooden-box complete with ALL accessories (weights, 2 x arm-rests and papers) - EMT "diamond" mount for TSD15 cartridge - five bare-wires original;

- Ortofon RMG-309i 12 inches arm, original box and papers w/8N Ortofon blue cable;

- IVIE IE-30 Real Time Analyzer, complete in original briefcase, with class A microphone and ALL accessories, a brand-new set of genuine spare IVIE's batteries and Ivie IE-20 Pink and White noise-generator - both with original 117/220V power supplies/batteries chargers - top conditions and not comparable with any other shitty computer analyzer - the one! ;

- Vintage, early 60's original Ortofon SPU-A "Green label" - square bakelite headshell with "leaf" cantilever and vertical BIIIG magnet - the one sought-after and revered by Ken Shindo-san - with original butter-white/red inner box - extremely rare;

- EMT 930st top-plate, engraved/old EMT logo at lower right-side, original early '60s "bakelite" grey-hammertone with ALL silk-screens in good shape, unrepaired, only some small spots on paint - good for restoring/overhauling a lesser EMT 930st... very rare!;

- nicely hand-made 3,5 W liquid, smooth sounding stereo tube-amp based on Western Electric 421A (5998) undirectly-heated double triode, plus 2 x 6SJ7 drivers/5R4GT rectifier - sold with three spare tubes, N.O.S./boxed, original WE 421A, quite rare and expensive in this as-new conditions - 220V - great, little amp for tweeter in multi-amped horn-system;

- Mitch Cotter/Verion Mk II MC transformer/step-up with original built-in silver cables;

- Mijayima Labs. Shilabe Otono MC cartridge brand-new, in double wooden/carton box, ebony body, Shibata tip diamond - hand-made in Japan;

- Mijayima Labs. ETR-800 MC step-up, selectable low and high impedance, brand-new;

- Bang & Olufsen CD-5500 design-friendly CD-player, Philips TDA-1541 DAC, superbly sounding;

- Allnic Verito Z brand-new MC cartridge - hand-made in South Korea;

- Lumiere DST, brand-new MC-cartridge, hand-made in Japan - unused - superb!;

- Garrard 301 white in natural finish, oiled slate plinth, overhauled, serviced;

- EMT 930st w/EMT 155st RIAA, EMT/Ortofon RMA-229 and EMT TSD-15 conical tip cartridge, original 45 r.p.m. bakelite adapter, grey hammertone "Shindo" bronze clamp, Dusch's 45 kilos seismic-base and silk-screened heavy glass-platter - Made in Germany, mega-rare vintage Beyer/EMT DT-48 monitor earspeakers, plexiglas dust-cover, original user-manual, lot of spares (strobo neon-light, spare spindle bearing, different arm-lift for EMT 929 arm, original plastic/felt platter, brake-assembly, stainless-steel arm-well for Fidelity Research FR64-S' mounting... and 500 cc original spindle-oil can);

- BEYER TR/BV 351015006 MC transformer in Hammond alu box - nicely matching and sounding with EMT TSD-15 and, most of all, with Denon DL-103;

- custom-made cartridges display/holder, dust-proof, made in plexiglas: black base and see-through clear plexiglas cover, good for 6 cartridges and headshells - elegant and useful for carts collectors - two available;

- Nagra IV-S with QGB large-spools motor, alu flight-case, Power-supplies and accessories, cables, original Nagra's NAB and cine adapters, etc. - museum quality, perfect sounding/recording;

- Fidelity Research FR-64-S "Silver wires inside" 10-inches arm, no original box, perfect for EMT 930st mounting;

... also more goodies available - mostly speakers, all in top conditions - ( i.e. '50s Westrex 2080-A 15" woofers 16 ohm/Philips 9710 Alnico/RCA MI-9584 1,5" drivers 15 ohm + original metal theatre horns adapters/Emilar 1" 8 ohm drivers/Altec 15" 803A woofers 16 ohm and 420A Biflex 15" 8 ohm/JBL 2420 1" - high-drivers and original "sound-barrier" horn - 16 ohm/Isophon 22 cm Alnico/original N.O.S. Saba "green" mids and highs pairs and several baffles for wide-band and bass-enclosures for 15" woofers)... if the case, pls drop a line at:

stefanocello-at-gmail-dot-com

Will send hi-res pixes of any item to anyone interested enough... only be (a little) patient;-)

Adottiamo una parola - i.e. let's save a word, italian style!

2011-10-18T09:00:00.008+02:00

A great loving action to save seldom used words in our beautiful mother-language... l'italiano, perchè solo con le quasi infinite sfumature di una lingua madre si può aspirare ad esprimere la varietà dell'animo umano.

Adottiamo una parola... per non dimenticare un passato fulgido, ora tristemente appannato.

A proposito, io ho personalmente adottato le seguenti parole:

- bachelite
- bagonghi
- hertz
- musicofilo
- pellucido

... e mi son fermato... per lasciare ad altri il piacere di adottare parole desuete od evocative o buffe o...;-)

Schoolday

2011-10-17T09:50:00.003+02:00

Some days ago, while peeing Chicco, my pup, early a Saturday morning, I walked near a school and from the open windows I heard some boring teacher voice maybe "annoying" her pupils... then, few steps ahead... and I found this... it's - to my eyes - pure playful, joyous youth with the shape of a paper aircraft, as used by every boy at every latitude or so.

I liked it...

Dicky Mouse or Twogoodears goes (soft) porn...

2011-10-16T21:32:00.008+02:00

... as seen at "Biennale Arte 2011", today, in Venice...

BTW, the resin-made - tall as a twelve years old boy - Dicky and his horse-sized "thing", is a Japanese artwork:-)

The most perfect song - Bjork's "Scatterheart"

2011-10-15T18:52:00.007+02:00

... I love Bjork since her Sugarcubes' early steps... Vespertine and Medulla are in my DNA... BUT "SelmaSongs" is... in my blood.

Yesterday I had an extremely pleasant and absorbing aural experience while listening to this disk of the little, GREAT Icelander elf...

The orchestra, the voice, the electronics... her melodies and musical vision in this OST reminds me to the weird, naked "beauty" of Lars von Trier's movie - "Dancer in the Dark" - which - largely - is what it is thanking both Bjork's acting and music, as well.

All the disk is amazingly great... BUT "Scatterheart" is a song of painful beauty... and, definitely, the ultimate Bjork, period.

Subbass 2die4 sounds, strings, lush strings and... that voice and heavenly melody.

I strongly suggest everyone who's not sadly aware of this very disk to give it a try.

... and, yes, you owe to me a cigar!

Droodles

2011-10-15T17:43:00.010+02:00

I received a copy of Roger Price's seminal booklet as a gift from Lorenza, a girlfriend, in early '70s and cherished the peaceful, TV-free world hinting, classy humbleness of these apparently silly non-sense drawings and related titles... it's in fact a 100% pure mind-game, as only a pencil and a paper sheet is needed... I spent endless hours drawing those Droodles during boring job-related workshops, which - considering these days flawed economy - proved to be much cooler than hedge-funds, futures or any other stock-market fucking-tool around!

Sure I both entertained myself and friends or colleagues for decades, now:-) and never, ever fucked anyone pocket, with Droodles.

Great, late Frank Zappa also appreciated, as he used one of the very best Droodles for his '82 "Ship arriving too late to save a drowning Witch"... and - as usually - Frank proved he was 120% right and decades ahead of any politician, anywhere/anytime... irony is a weapon, against thieves and system.

I dedicate the old-timey simple, almost forgotten childish class of Droodles to the many bravehearts who are (peacefully) rioting against banks' and economics super-power and war games, worldwide.

Make love, not war... and, I add, play Droodles with your kids, leaving that TV/fireplace OFF, for a while... listen and play music, sing, draw Droodles, pee the dog... gather and chat a lot... whatever, as "Times They're a-Changing"... let's go back to the roots, re-discovering what really counts... also (humble) Droodles will do:-)

Imagination is healing, powerful stuff... and absolutely a for-free toy!

Musings?!? From U.S.A. or the dark side of the... 3/3

2011-10-14T22:01:00.006+02:00

... hey, just in case you're wondering... this and the two previous "goodies" come from American pals... strange, don't you?!?!

Musings?!? From U.S.A. or the dark side of the... 2/3

2011-10-14T22:01:00.002+02:00

Musings?!? From U.S.A. or the dark side of the... 1/3

2011-10-14T21:58:00.002+02:00

Tango!!!

2011-10-13T21:17:00.015+02:00

... not thinking about "that" tango... yes, it's among sexiest dance and Astor Piazzolla's (related) bandoneon is - musically - ne-plus-ultra, but I'm right now talking about another VERY musical (kind of) Tango... the transformers maker... and, again, not ISO-Tango, the re-born Tango, BUT "The" original Japanese manufacturer-extraordinaire which winded among the very best audio irons, period.

It seems almost impossible some copper wire and mu-metal may be compared to an orchestra director baton or a cellist bow... but so it is, at least to me:-)

It's a miracle, truly reaching music core and soul.

What's these days in my mind it's a new (audio) dish... here are the ingredients: Western Electric 416C aka the "Golden Triode" - thanking my friend Daniele "Ansa High-Tension" Ansaloni sensei-san:-)) for the definition - Tango EQ-600P LCR RIAA and Tango MCT-999 to build "the" sonically ultimate or so phono-stage, ever.

An Italian/German new adventure as Thomas Mayer will masterfully cook the recipe as the Prince of the (audio) Chefs... great inspiration came - for Thomas and myself - from Daniele's great site and so passionate and in-deep searches about the weird WE 416 B/C: will 416 surpass and go beyond the GREAT harmonic merits of, say, Her Highness WE 437A or Her Majesty Telefunken EC 8020?

As usually, a doubt: are the above questions ethically proper, now? What makes audio bespoke brewing and playback advancement as among the most rewarding passion, ever... also these so shaking and shockingly heavy and unsecure days: Music, art, care for details and passion, search for elevating our soul to "something" higher than alien mother-fuckers stock-markets speculating habits which are sadly trying to supersede what Man is and must be after: pleasure, peace, love... music!

So, folks... Tangoooooo!!!

Stay tuned;-)

Musing?!?! Bittersweet truth...

2011-10-09T19:48:00.001+02:00

WJAAS - NEC P26 center-drive: the best record-player ever?

2011-10-09T19:28:00.010+02:00

A marvellous piece of Japanese engineering and craftmanship which costed in 1954 an hefty Y 1.100.000... an enormous sum... still impressive these days:-)

Not simply a Far East reply to German-made EMT 927st... with its 16" platter and motor it's more akin a Neumann's lathe (...) and a true NEC statement!

Restored and overhauled and polished to its original beauty at Sound Labo, the classy Hokkaido-based shop/workshop.

A masterpiece with the classic EMT "Banana" 997 12 inches arm, but still gorgeous with SME 3012:-)...

Applauses!

Musing?!?

2011-10-08T21:30:00.002+02:00

Steve Jobs... may you rest in peace...

2011-10-06T08:30:00.004+02:00

He maybe changed the world... sure he made my own life better.

MY HEART IS BLEEDING - Bert Jansch died today, Oct. 5th, 2011

2011-10-05T16:09:00.006+02:00

I could moan and sigh and cry... what Bert represented for myself and millions others is... simply too broad and deep and huge to be described, period!

I'm truly in pain, as not only a musician, a folk icon died, BUT one of the very last originals... his voice, like VERY few others - i.e. Robert Wyatt - also reading the grocery list is able to give shivers and goose-bumps and enrich people soul...

R.I.P., dear, beloved Bert... you and your music are in my D.N.A.... my sincere condelences to Loren and to his family.

Sadly, a raison d'etre for that Black Swan which made the cover of his very last masterpiece... the Death, itself?

WJAAS - How turn your stereo into an economically rewarding activity

2011-09-28T16:20:00.008+02:00

Devils of Nihon-jin;-))) - they're able to turn an (audio-wise) angry wife into an auditorium hostess/cashier/stewardess;-)))

Nice stroke!

... again about Tim de Paravicini and the art of open-reel recorders modding...

2011-09-28T12:27:00.011+02:00

... making "them" (sound) better...

Read an interesting essay and interview with the old Master... something deja read, BUT, nonetheless, still technically mass/market overlooked or, sadly, forgotten, so worthwhile re-reading to better, deeply understand.

BTW... looking at one of his (modified) Stellavox' on-top of a Revox G-36 (see pix)... I still consider my own G-36 "De Paravicinized" as my best (please note bold letters) recording machine... sonically better than my Studer B-67, Telefunken M-15A, Nagra IV-S/QGB and Stellavox SP-7 (please forgive me for my Chip'n'Dale open-reel collecting syndrome I suffer since my boyhood;-)): more headroom, and overall master beauty... de gustibus, of course, but feel I'm not wrong;-)... the best playback machines are Telefunken M-15A and Stellavox'... than the others... this for hit-parades lovers... and for myself, as well, as - shame on me - I don't spin a single tape-reel since months and months ago!

Noridan performing/musical group from Seoul, South Korea

2011-09-26T11:00:00.004+02:00

WOW!!!

These people truly deserve attention and appreciation... they use industrial, re-cycled material, metal, wood, plastic, whatever, to build (several) one-of-a-kind percussion instruments to be played in highly fascinating and interactive ways, in streets, theatres, wherever...

Clever...

Ode to Joy - Beethoven/Schiller's masterpiece or Europe's Anthem?

2011-09-24T19:43:00.006+02:00

Sure both Schiller and Beethoven weren't thinking about this... this... snakes-nest called Europe or Euroland, where only money (and NOT ideals) rules!

BARITONE
Oh friends, not these tones!
Let us raise our voices in more
pleasing and more joyful sounds!

ODE TO JOY (Friedrich Schiller)

BARITONE, QUARTET, AND CHORUS
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.

Thy magic reunites those
Whom stern custom has parted;
All men will become brothers
Under thy gentle wing.

May he who has had the fortune
To gain a true friend
And he who has won a noble wife
Join in our jubilation!

Yes, even if he calls but one soul
His own in all the world.
But he who has failed in this
Must steal away alone and in tears.

All the world's creatures
Draw joy from nature's breast;
Both the good and the evil
Follow her rose-strewn path.

She gave us kisses and wine
And a friend loyal unto death;
She gave lust for life to the lowliest,
And the Cherub stands before God.

TENOR SOLO AND CHORUS
Joyously, as his suns speed
Through Heaven's glorious order,
Hasten, Brothers, on your way,
Exulting as a knight in victory.

CHORUS

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We enter fire imbibed,
Heavenly, thy sanctuary.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Can you sense the Creator, world?
Seek him above the starry canopy.
Above the stars He must dwell.

Joy, daughter of Elysium
Thy magic reunites those
Whom stern custom has parted;
All men will become brothers
Under thy gentle wing.

Be embraced, Millions!
This kiss for all the world!
Brothers!, above the starry canopy
A loving father must dwell.

Joy, beautiful spark of Gods!,
Daughter of Elysium,
Joy, beatiful spark of Gods!.

News from ECM - Sinikka Langeland's The Land that is not

2011-09-24T15:00:00.005+02:00

Sinikka Langeland's last effort on ECM...

I like it.

(Partial) Musings - The Dutch way to wood bending, horns-making wise:-)))

2011-09-24T14:53:00.005+02:00

... look at the wooden clog:-))) - a TRUE genius stroke!

Thanking Arno and Roman...

Music will save the world... Tinariwen!!!

2011-09-24T14:36:00.006+02:00

From the pureness of Sahara's desert... THE energy which will (possibly) save the world!

Brotherhood, in Music...

Gochag Askarov's Mugham

2011-09-22T16:02:00.003+02:00

Freshly issued from Azerbaijan... last disk by Gochag Askarov and his group: Mugham.

Mughamat (plural of mugham) is the classical heritage of Azerbaijani traditional musical culture declared by UNESCO a “masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of the world” (2003). It has preserved its archaic musical language till present. Mugham is distinguished by emotional sophistication. In some writings it is introduced as “the art of emotional states”. Its artistic idea is, indeed, to express the subtlest emotional states of the human soul in their great diversity.
The art of mughamat is inseparable from Azerbaijani classical poetry and from the Aruz, an old Eastern quantitative system of versification.
The Mugham may be performed as a vocal-instrumental cyclic composition, or as a solo instrumental piece played on almost the all of traditional musical instruments. Solo instrumental mugham came in Azerbaijani musical practice in the beginning of the 20th century.
Mugham performing demands exceptional musical memory and ear from the musician to keep in mind the whole mugham repertoire, and the ability to improvise, that is, a certain composer gift. Many of performers are known as authors of such traditional (measured) pieces as Tasnif, Reng and Deramed. The mughams are not subjected to new creation now; nevertheless, the performer is free to improvise within the frames of certain mode and music vocabulary. Depending on his/her knowledge, musical memory and the duration given, performer can reduce or expand the composition, give different emotional nuances to the music, and vary the melody in an individual way, however, keeping its key-modal structure and key- melodic formulas.
GOCHAG ASKAROV (b. 1978), the singer-soloist of the ensemble Turan is distinguished for his beautiful voice of rare emotional power and passion. Western musical press compares his singing manner with that of Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, a prominent Pakistan singer, the cult figure of Eastern vocal art.
GOCHAG ASKAROV performed at concert stages in the USA (2007), the UK (2007, 2009), at the WOMAD festivals in the UK (2009), Australia and New Zealand (2010); he was featured in the BBC “World Routes” programs (2007, 2008, 2009), as well as in the programs of Australian National Radio (2010), and in the documentary «Mugham in Montana» of an American journalist Thomas Goltz (see the documentary on www.youtube.com). His discography includes two CDs released in abroad – one by ARC Music Productions company (UK, 2008), and another by Australian «Bird Walks Records» (2010). See his website www.qochaqesgerov.az for more information.

A superb disk, folks... sure worth a listen.

WJAAS - Hisashi Seo-san's "Cafe-Tohne" in Yonago-shi, Japan

2011-09-19T09:46:00.012+02:00

My friend Seo's cafe will be opening soon, on October 5th 2011... as you can see, the place was built from scratch in a quiet suburban area, so the lucky Nihon-jin who will gather at Seo's place will enjoy a peaceful, classy, relaxed environment where to sip a tea or a coffee while reading last (or old...) Musen to Jikken or Stereo Sound magazines or chatting - about music and audio, of course:-) - and listening to good music through some nice vintage gears.

When such a place, so common in Japan and South Korea, will meet the taste of Western audio and music lovers, so often prey and victims of WAF and kids and related in their - once - own homes?!?

It's old culture of "clubbing", now almost lost also in Great Britain and whole Commonwealth, but still alive and kickin' in Japan - i.e. people with very same attitude and interest, whatever it might be, peacefully meeting and interacting and having good time under same roof in a friendly place... easy, don't you?

All my best wishes for the future of your beautiful cafe, Seo-san!